Automatic sand controls for track sanding



March 20, 1934. MARTlN 1,951,553

AUTOMATIC SAND CONTROLS FOR TRACK SANDING Filed Aug. 24, 1952 PatentedMar. 20, 1934 UNITED STATES AUTOMATIC SAND CONTROLS FOR TRACK SANDINGEdwin D. Martin, Nashville, Tenn;, assignor of one-fourth to Zenus L.Hurd, Nashville, Tenn.

Application August 24, 1932, Serial No. 630,269

8 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for discharging sand upon railwaytracks and particularly to the head or nozzle at the lower end of thesand pipe and immediately above the track from which i the sand isdischarged on to the track. Sand is blown from the sand box of thelocomotive through the sand pipes by compressed air and discharged on tothe tracks. Ordinarily the pressure of the air is so great that it tendsto blow the sand from the tracks and leave the rails bare.

The general object of the present invention is to separate the air fromthe sand in the discharge head so that the sand will be discharged uponthe track by its own weight and not by a blast of air, thus avoidingwaste and making the sand more effective. A further object is to providea head of this character having means whereby the sand may be agitatedwithin the head and thus the sand prevented from bridging across thesand discharge opening.

A further object is to provide the head with an air chamber and providemeans whereby air may be discharged from said chamber above the sand,thus permitting the sand to be discharged on to the rail by gravity.

A further object is to provide means whereby the head may be heated tothus prevent the sand from becoming frozen or packed and prevent thedischarge opening of the head from becoming clogged by ice, snow or thelike.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a track sander constructed in accordancewith my invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical, longitudinal section thereof;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 2.

In the drawing, 10 designates the sand pipe which extends down from thesand box of the locomotive and from a source of compressed air. The headdesignated generally 11 has at its upper end a screw-threaded nipple 12adapted to be engaged with the sand pipe 10 and has a downwardly andforwardly extending lower wall 13, the forward extremity of which iscurved upward at 14. The upper wall extends upward and forward as at 15to form a dome or air chamber 1 and then extends downward almostvertically to a point below the extremity of the curved portion 14.Between the portion 14 and this front wall there is formed the dischargeopening 16,

the front wall extending below this discharge opening as at 17. Thelower wall 13 is extended upward on each side at 18 and the wall of theair chamber 15 extends outward and downward at 19 in spaced relation tothe upper margins of the walls 18 so as to provide air dischargeopenings 20 discharging downward from the air chamber 15 on each side ofthe sand receptacle constituted by the walls 13 and 18.

Loosely connected to a pin or screw 21 extending inward through thefront wall of the head is an agitator consisting of a loosely'linkedchain 22, the lower link of this chain extending through the transverseslot or opening 16.

The jars and oscillations of the locomotive moving over the track causesthe agitation of this chain 22 which breaks up the sand. and prevents itfrom bridging the opening 16 or from clogging up. Preferably, though notnecessarily, I attach to the wall 13 of the head an electric heaterwhich is illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 2 and comprises theouter casing 23 which is attached to the wall 13 by means of screws orother suitable devices 24, this casing having therein the heatingelement 25 embedded in any suit able non-conductive material, thisheatingelement having the terminals 26 whereby it may be connected, asillustrated diagrammatically in Figure 1, to a source of current and aswitch. It is to be understood that this heating element is to be onlyused when there is a likelihood of the moisture of the sand becomingfrozen and the sand, therefore, clogging or refusing to run out of thehead or when ice or snow forms around the discharge end of the head andthus clogs the opening 16. V

In the operation of this structure, the sand is forced by compressed airdown into the head. The sand as it moves down over the bottom wall 13 ofthe head is checked by the upwardly extending lip 14 and then passesrelatively gently to the discharge opening. The sand and the air collidewith the front wall 17 and this wall acts to take the force out of thesand and separate the air from the sand. The lip 14 and the front wallof the head act to turn the compressed air upward and into the hollowdome or air chamber from which the air escapes. The air rises into thechamber 15 while the sand, being heavier than the air, falls downwardand, Without any other force than that of gravity, runs gently out ofthe head through the gap 16 and on to the rail. This places a suflicientamount of sand on the rails to prevent the engine from slipping butinasmuch as there is no force other than gravity behind the sand, thesand will remain-upon the rails. The air being lighter than the sandafter striking the baffle wall 17 rises into the air chamber 15 and isdischarged through the openings 20. This discharge of the compressed aircreates a draft or pull that carries most of the dust from the sand outwith it.

It is to be noted that the hollow head is ver- I tically'enlarged sothat the upper portion of this head constituted by the dome 15 isdisposed above the inlet opening at the upper end of the head so thatthe sand coming down through the sand pipe into this head will not risewithin the head above the level of the upper wall of the inlet open ingand thus cannot obstruct the outlet of air from the head. Inasmuch asthe head is disposed ap proximately on the angle shown in Figures 1 and2, the sand will be discharged directly downward on to the rail and willnot be blown downward at an angle to the rail. As a consequence of thispositioning of the outlet opening from the head, the rail will be sandedwhether the car is on a curve or on a straight piece of track. This isnot true of the ordinary standard sanding appliance used on practicallyall railroads to my knowledge which on a curve acts to throw the sand toone sideor the other of the track, making it impossible at anyrelatively high speed for the track to be properly sanded. This has leadto many accidents.

It will be seen that I have provided a sand controlling head which willnot clog or stop up with such substances as dust, wet sand or snow andwhich permits the sand to be discharged by gravity on to the railwithout blowing the sand off of the rail. It will also be seen that Ihaveprovided means whereby sand and the head may be heated,

this heating means being controlled by a switch located in the cab of'the engine. a While no moisture can get into the head from the exterior,yet there is more or less moisture in I the sand itself and oftentimessnow may collect around the head orwater splash against it and start tofreeze so that a wall of icemay be built up that mayeventually extendover and clog or close the mouth and prevent the outlet of sand. This isentirely prevented by the heater 25.

While I have illustrated. certain details of construction andarrangements of parts, I do not wish to be limited thereto as many minorchanges might be made therein without departing from the spirit of theinvention as defined in the appended claims. I claim:- 1. Ahead forlocomotive sand pipes having a inlet at one end and an outlet at theother end,

I a front wall partly defining said outlet and exhaving outlets- 2. Atrack sanding head having an outlet and an inlet for compressed air andsand, and means Within the head forseparating the compressed air fromthe sand and allowing the escape of compressed air above the sandoutlet.

3. A track sanding head having a sand and compressed air inlet andhavinga sand discharging portion U-shaped in cross section and an air chamber,the walls of which extend over the sand discharging portion and thendownward exteniorly thereof to provide air escape openings.

"4. A track sanding head having a lower wall extending downward andforward and then curved upward at its lower end, the wall on each sideextending straight upward, an upper wall integral with the lower wallbut arching over the upwardly extending side portions of the lower walland extending downward exteriorly thereof to provide air outlets, theupper wall being extended downward and forward in spaced relation to thelower end of the lower wall to provide a sand outlet, and means foragitating the sand in saidoutlet/ i 1 5. A track sanding head having alower wall extending downward and forward, the wall on each sideextending straight upward, an upper wall integral with the lower wallbut arching transversely over the upwardly extending side portions ofthe lower wall and extending downward exteriorly thereof to provide airoutlets, there being anair and sand inlet at the upper end of thesanding head and the upper wall below said air inlet being extendedupward and longitudinally to forman air chamber, the upper wall beingthen extended downward and forward transversely to the axis of the inletopening and in spaced relation to the lower end of thelower wall toprovide a sand outlet.

6. A hollow track sanding head havingv a bottom wall extending downwardand forward, thelower end of this bottom wall being upwardly curved,there being a sand discharge opening for the head disposed just inadvance of the upwardly curved portion of thebottom wall, the headhavingasand inlet and an air outlet, the latter being disposed substantiallyabove the, level of the sand inlet. U

'7. A hollow track sanding head having a sand inlet opening at one endand asandoutlet at its lowerend, the wall of the head substantiallyabove the level of the inlet being extended upward and having compressedair escape openings.

8. A track sanding head of the character described having a'sand andcompressed air inlet at one end, a sand outlet at the other end, andopenings through the'head between the outlet and inlet to permit theescape of the compressed air from the; sand to the atmosphere.

; EDWIN D. MARTIN;

